CHAPTER 70: THE FIRST ROUND IS OVER

At first, the female cultivator was reluctant to believe Li Shen’s words, but after opening the lid of her pill cauldron, she was shocked to see that her materials were burnt and unusable.

"My materials are burnt?!" the woman asked in shock.

Li Shen took out a time token, showing that there were only 10 hours left. The cultivator had to hurry and find other materials so she could refine the pills and pass this round.

Without responding to Li Shen, she flew away quickly, leaving the floating hill behind and leaving Li Shen alone. He had already finished refining his pills, so he didn’t feel rushed to do anything.

"I should go and watch over Bai Zhang’s pill refinement," explained Li Shen.

Just as Li Shen was about to leave, he was surprised by the appearance of Mo Ni and his two friends. They arrived injured, breathing heavily with tired eyes fixed on Li Shen.

Their presence immediately became the center of Li Shen’s attention. The man turned back and stared at the two people.

"How is it? Did you get it?" asked Li Shen.

Mo Ni remained silent. He preferred to show the material rather than tell him what had happened to them. Li Shen saw it; it was indeed the material for making third-level fire element pills.

"Let me guess, you got it through a fight, right?" Li Shen asked, taking the material from them.

"That’s not important to you. Can we get our Soul Essence back?!" Mo Ni said firmly, causing Li Shen to laugh.

"HAHA! Do you think this material is enough to return your Soul Essence? Of course not."

"WHAT?!" Mo Ni shouted, growing even more furious.

With his heart burning with rage, he rushed forward to attack Li Shen. He released the spiritual energy gathered in his hands and was about to punch Li Shen in the face, but the man easily blocked Mo Ni’s attack.

An energy explosion occurred when Li Shen blocked the punch. Li Shen was completely unaffected, unlike Mo Ni, who was even more injured.

The man pushed Mo Ni backwards with the help of his spiritual energy, sending Mo Ni flying back to his two friends. They realized that Li Shen’s power was beyond their abilities.

"You’d better hurry up and refine your pills. If you fail this round, I may no longer need you!" threatened Li Shen.

"I already... suspected it. You kept the Soul Essence so you could continue using us as your tools. Am I right?" asked Mo Ni.

"That’s the truth. I plan to use you. If you have any objections, I can destroy the Soul Essence and let you die in vain," replied Li Shen.

Mo Ni didn’t want to die, nor did his two friends. They had sacrificed too much time to reach the Nascent Soul Stage. If they died, they would lose everything they had fought for all this time.

It wasn’t worth it!

"Tch! Bai Zhang is really lucky to have a guardian angel like you!" said Mo Ni.

"I don’t know him well. In the future, I’ll treat him the same way I treat you."

"Go."

Mo Ni fell silent. He and his two friends floated away, leaving that place and heading toward another floating hill. Li Shen sighed, feeling puzzled as to why Nascent Soul cultivators in this era were so arrogant and stubborn.

’If they acted like that in my time, they would probably be eternal slaves to the Soul Formation cultivators,’ replied Li Shen.

After finishing his matter with Mo Ni, Li Shen flew to the back of the floating hill and watched Bai Zhang in the final stages of pill refinement, the condensation process for the final completion.

An hour passed, Bai Zhang’s pill cauldron opened and revealed the third-grade wind element pill he had successfully formed. The pill’s perfection and shape were the same as Li Shen’s, but the elements and time effectiveness were different.

"Congratulations! You’ve passed the initial round," Li Shen replied.

Hearing the voice, Bai Zhang raised his head and saw Li Shen descending from the sky. Bai Zhang smiled and clasped his hands together, paying respects to the man.

"Thank you, Senior."

"There are nine hours left until the time is truly up. If you have no other activities, you might use this precious time to meditate," Li Shen replied.

"About that..."

"What?"

Bai Zhang paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. The attitude Bai Zhang showed was quite mysterious to Li Shen.

"To gather spiritual energy, I can’t do it while meditating," replied Bai Zhang.

"Then?"

"By eating these!" explained Bai Zhang, showing five bottles stored in each of his fat fingers.

Li Shen was shocked. He had never heard of a cultivator obtaining spiritual energy and the opportunity to break through using such a strange method: eating pills.

"You eat pills?!" exclaimed Li Shen. Bai Zhang nodded with a broad smile.

"But how is that possible? Isn’t eating too many pills supposed to cause energy fluctuations?" asked Li Shen.

"I don’t know. I was born with a unique body. When I consume energy-absorbing pills, the spiritual energy is absorbed automatically without me having to form hand seals," replied Bai Zhang.

"If I feel the backlash from taking too many pills, I’ll drink this neutralizing pill," Bai Zhang added, showing a bottle of a different color, green.

Li Shen fell silent, then nodded in agreement. If what Bai Zhang said was true, then it was certain that his condition was unique and something new he had encountered so far.

People were called cultivators because they cultivated. But Li Shen didn’t know what to call Bai Zhang because he didn’t cultivate. He ate to obtain spiritual energy and break through levels.

"Alright. Do as you wish. We’ll stay on this floating hill until it’s time," explained Li Shen.

"What about Mo Ni and the others?" asked Bai Zhang.

"They have come and brought me the materials listed in the pill recipe. Now, they have left to find materials for themselves," replied Li Shen.

"Have you returned their Soul Essences?" asked Bai Zhang. Li Shen shook his head.

"I still need their abilities. So, I am keeping their Soul Essences for later."

"I’m glad to hear that," said Bai Zhang, feeling relieved.

Li Shen nodded. He returned to the cliff cave he had used earlier. The man spent his time meditating, though the quality of the spiritual energy was not as pure and abundant as when he was in the Azure Pillar Sect.

Time passed quickly, a bell rang loudly throughout the sky, enough to startle them all. Li Shen heard the loud ringing of the bell.

"It’s time."

The man stood up and stepped out of the cliff cave. When he looked ahead, he was shocked to see many Core Formation cultivators below.

"All tournament participants, please return to the Ming Yuan Sect! The first round is over. All participants are forbade from engaging in any activities involving pill refinement!" replied someone from the Ming Yuan Sect, the voice of Elder Mo.

Li Shen patted his magic pouch and took out his third-grade earth element pill. He was ready to hand it over to the tournament committee.

Magic portals opened on every hill, including the floating hill where Li Shen and the other cultivators were.

One by one, they flew into the portals to arrive in the Ming Yuan Sect. Li Shen flew after them until he returned to Bai Island.

There, they were all awaited by the committee and Elder Mo, who was ready to evaluate their third-level element pills.

"Congratulations! You have completed the first round of the Ming Yuan Sect Pill Tournament. One by one, please step forward to approach the committee," replied Elder Mo.

Elder Mo’s attention shifted forward, seeing Li Shen who had trapped his nephew’s Soul Essence. However, he couldn’t act at that moment with so many cultivators arriving.

’I will repay you for this! Remember that, Shen Li!’